


Mahina & Jumba

by AuthorA97



Series: Ohana [1]
Category: Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Genre: Child Left Alone, Family Feels, Found Family, Humor, Sadness, general sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 09:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17999303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorA97/pseuds/AuthorA97
Summary: Mahina Alana is six-years-old. Her mommy told her to stay on the corner and not to leave. Hence why she's still waiting there when Morgan Spencer slips in the Stitch!verse.





	1. Waiting

For the record, Morgan Spencer did not like the first few years of her extended life.

She was scared for a lot of it.

She was alone for a lot more of it.

She missed her parents. She missed her annoying brothers and cousins and classmates. She missed having her parents act as parents, rather than Morgan take care of everything herself.

Except there were times when she stopped. She’d had enough of being scared. Of being alone. Of being  _ unsure. _

Lucky the universe had given her a way out.

It wasn’t an easy thing, having superpowers. Morgan thought she was doing a good job.

Her powers allowed her to jump around the multiverse. The worlds you saw on TV were a playground to Morgan. She could stay there for years and years, with barely a blink of time passing back Home. 

Morgan Spencer decided to go to the one world she had always known she’d be welcome in.

She  _ had _ to go to the world where the main character was introduced in commercials by appearing in other movies. That was her whole life!

It would take some time to get ready. Despite her actual age, she had the mindset of a ten-year-old. Ten year olds were impatient little things.

 

==M&J==

 

She woke up in a body that was half the size of her original one.

She saw a deep Hawaiian tan instead of her normal tan skin. Her hair was a thicker black that fell in short, bunched up waves down her back. She was wearing a water blue version of Lilo’s signature bright red dress.

She looked around where she had woken up. It was an old alleyway. 

Morgan saw a box nearby. The box was on its side, the top facing outward. There were other dresses like the one she was wearing inside, as well as a grass hula outfit (homemade), sneakers (she was new to this body, but even she knew those shoes were two sizes too big), and dolls made out of twisted metal spoons. A rolled up sleeping back was stuffed in the back of the box, keeping it upright. One of the flaps had a stick tied on, to keep it up at night Morgan assumed.

Her backstory was that she apparently  _ lived  _ in this box.

Morgan mentally shrugged. She’d lived in houses up until now. Being homeless would be a cool adventure! 

She crawled into her new home. The box smelled like mildew and rotten fruit. Morgan found some writing inside the box, written by an obviously young hand.

_ ‘Mahina’s Box’ _

The ‘s’ was done backwards. The ‘i’ had no dot. As for the ‘m’, it was somehow done cursive. Morgan was impressed. She couldn’t write like that at all by age six. Or whatever age this body was.

The sun was going down. Morgan squinted over at the fading sun, seeing the colors that danced along the sky for sunset. The colors reminded her of a rainbow, except this rainbow covered the entirety of the sky itself, stretching on until the orange hues changed to yellow which changed to blue that became that purple of the night sky, with white stars scattered across them like a color all their own. She thought it was beautiful.

Morgan moved herself to sitting against the side of the box. It could barely support the weight of her, so she moved to lean against the wall beside her. 

She watched the sky until the orange took away the red.

She waited for the yellow to take the orange.

For the blue to take the yellow.

For the blue to become purple.

Lastly, when the stars took over the purple.

Morgan let out a content sigh at the sight. She climbed down the alleyway which led into a forest. She had a better view of the stars from their, but not  _ perfect _ .

There were always trees, when getting a better view.

Morgan climbed up one, taking pains to remember she had the body of a small child. They were fast and agile, but also  _ short _ .

As she reached the top perch, she studied the stars. She looked for differences between this sky and the one from her Home. It looked like all the summer constellations were there, although three of the stars in  _ Draco _ were dimmer.

Morgan reminded herself aliens existed in this world.  _ Aliens. _ For every star she could see, millions of aliens surrounded it as it was their sun.

She wondered if maybe- just maybe- right now, a trial was being held for a little blue alien. 

She wondered if Stitch even existed yet.

She wondered...

She wondered for so long, her eyes had become droopy.

Knowing how hard children could fall to sleep when it suited them, Morgan climbed down the tree. 

Morgan went back to the tiny little box that she reasoned was her home now.

She couldn’t say how she knew this place was home, that it had been for a while now, or that it had to stay her home for just awhile more.

She had to wait.

She wasn’t sure if she was waiting for the movie to start, or waiting for Mahina’s family.

 

==M&J==

 

It had been a week.

That didn’t sound like a long time, usually. When you were a child alone on the street, it felt like a month.

Mahina had made a tiny little home for herself in that alleyway. Morgan could scarcely believe it. After some checking, her body was the age of five (at most, six). No five year old should have a box for a home. No child sure  _ want _ this home, or feel saddened whenever she was too far away from it. Morgan did her best to ignore the impulse to stay in the alley, but even she had to give in when tired.

As for food, Morgan had to get creative.

She swore she’d pay Mrs Hasagawa for the fruit when she had the money. Morgan had taken from trash bins too, but she craved fresh fruit. Morgan supposed if needed she could scrounge up the island fruit, after checking that it wasn’t deadly.

Morgan looked at her ill gotten gains from the day. The various pieces of half eaten food, a small pile of peaches from Mrs Hasagawa, and a bag of chips she’d snagged from a woman’s grocery bag.

_ ‘For now, I’ll have to steal things.’ _ She told herself. _ ‘Yeah...yeah this isn’t forever...’ _

She looked up at the night sky. She’d always loved the night. Her new namesake was full in the sky, like a protector over her.

_ ‘As great as this box is...I’d like someone to find me now.’ _

But they didn’t.

So she sat.

Waiting...

Waiting...

_ Waiting... _


	2. Waving Through A Window

The hula class was starting.

Mahina stood outside, watching the lesson begin.

Deciding to follow the hula class had been one of sorta kinda deep thought. On one hand, it let Mahina watch the other kids her age. 

She had no supplies like a normal hula student would have, so that meant she needed to improvise. She took some tall leaves off of bushes, tying them together (using other leaves) until a skirt was fashioned. She was able to use an old t-shirt she’d found in the garbage. Her hula halo was actually the hardest bit, though Mahina liked to think she got away easy on that one. She made a daisy chain, but without the flowers.

This long tale ends with Mahina standing beside a window to the hula class, watching the lesson taking place. 

Mahina stood in the first position of the dance. She followed the beat with a tap of her foot.

The moves were easily to replicate. Some hand movements, which Mahina enjoyed doing. The feet movements were a bit tough to follow at first but Mahina caught.

Mahina followed the movements of the other girls, being careful not to lag behind. She didn’t have the advantage of a teacher watching for corrections. Everything she did wrong she had to self-correct.

While dancing Mahina sang along her breath. She had no idea what the words really meant, nothing at all. She enjoyed it all the same- all the fun she was having.

She enjoyed dancing.

Mahina barely acknowledged Lilo’s presence on stage. She giggled to herself.

The dance was coming to a close. Mahina made sure to keep extra close eye on the last moves, not tripping on her feet or something on the ground.

The music cut off. Mahina struck the final pose.

“He Inoa No Kalani Kalakaua. Kulele.” Mahina recited.

As soon as she did, there as screaming coming from the dance hall. Mahina winced. She stood up on her tiptoes, pushing open the window. It creaked- the old wood not agreeing with the ‘quiet’ plan. Mahina grabbed the wooden barriers of the window to halt it.

Thankful the screaming hula dancers covered the sound of the creaking window.

“Stop. Stop.” The instructor assured. His students froze, stopping their high pitched screams. Well, all except Lilo, who had neither fallen nor screamed. “Lilo, why are you all wet?”

“It’s sandwich day.” Lilo stated plainly. Everyone gave her blank stares back. Lilo sighed deeply. “Every Thursday, I take Pudge the Fish a peanut butter sandwich.” She clarified.

Mahina winced.

“Pudge is a fish?” The instructor asked.

“And today we were out of peanut butter!” Lilo went on. She was more distressed from the sandwich than being late for class. Which, given her reasoning, made sense. “So I asked my sister what to give him and she said a  _ tuna _ sandwich. I can’t give Pudge tuna!” Lilo leaned in towards the instructor. “Do you know what  _ tuna _ is?”

The instructor winced, already knowing he wouldn’t like whatever it was that Lilo said it what would follow. Mahina knew what she would say, she barely liked it.  “Fish?”

“It’s  _ fish _ !” Lilo yelled. “If I gave Pudge  _ tuna _ , I’d be an  _ abomination _ ! I’m late because I had to go to the store and get peanut butter ‘cause all we have is-is  _ stinkin’ tuna!” _ She ranted.

Mahina had to give Lilo credit. That explanation  _ did  _ make sense. 

“Lilo, Lilo.” The instructor spoke up to calm the girl done. Lilo took a deep breath. She also fixed her hula hat. “Why is this so important?”

“Pudge controls the weather.” Lilo answered.

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

Mahina shrugged, accepting the explanation. While Mahina understood that it wasn’t what  _ actually  _ happened, she kept an open mind about what might be true in this world.

“You’re crazy.” Myrtle told Lilo.

Mahina wished she had a camera- as she was missing the opportunity to capture the real life fight between Lilo and Myrtle. Meaning, Lilo punching Myrtle in the face or trying to bite her or scratch her. 

The other girls were less excited about this. They screamed loudly, running away from their seemingly insane hula classmate. The other adults in the room watched in the same way all adults would’ve:  _ Not my problem but holy shit is that weird. _

Mahina was snickering now, leaning on the window to enjoy.

“Please! Please!” The instructor tried to keep the peace. His efforts made Mahina snicker more. “ _ Everybody calm down _ !”

He lifted Lilo off of Myrtle. The instructor made sure to stand between the other girls and Lilo. Mahina stood up on her feet, watching it all go down. The instructor calmed down the girls, whispering to them. Even when Mahina strained to hear, it was all murmurs to her.

“Lilo...” The instructor began.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” Lilo pleaded.

“Maybe we should call your sister.” The instructor sighed.

“No! I’ll be good! I want to dance.” Lilo begged. “I practiced. I just want to dance. I practiced.”

Myrtle looked down at her arm. Mahina couldn’t hear her, but she heard all the girls groan is disgust.

 

==M&J==

 

The girls all shouted as they ran from hula class. They had all changed into their normal clothes- Mahina too, mostly because her grass skirt was sorta kinda definitely in need of repair. She was wearing her favorite dress- one that looked a lot like Lilo’s only dark blue. She’d nicked it from a store about two weeks after she arrived in Hawaii.

Mahina peeked from around the building, watching the girls all run away. Except Lilo. She sat on the steps, alone. That warned Mahina that she was about to run up to Lilo’s side and offer comfort. How did she know this? Because Mahina had a bleeding heart for the outcast.

“Hey Lilo.” Mahina greeted, trying to wave hello.

Lilo tilted her head. “I haven’t seen you here before...”

“I haven’t been around before.” Mahina supplied. She sat down beside Lilo, looking out on the trees. “I’m Mahina.”

Lilo raised an eyebrow. “Hey...how’d you know my name?”

“I heard the teacher telling you.” Mahina answered. “After you punched the other girl.” Lilo sighed, looking down at her feet. “It was awesome.”

Lilo smiled.

Mahina moved to sit beside Lilo, when the teacher walked out. She ducked to hide around the building. 

She had never really liked adults.

Even if she was one...kinda.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina was walking downtown. 

Well not downtown-downtown, Kaua’i was too small too have a proper downtown. It was more like...a few roads with a lot of extra shops. Mahina knew the island had a resort, which had a lot more stores and things by it, however the local shops were more...quaint.

Sometimes she’d swing by the resort- if she knew she could make it back to her box-house before sunset- to take what stuff she could. It was never much, but Mahina was getting better at this whole ‘thieving’ stuff. She’d get the ‘much’ as her skill improved.

Yeah. Mahina decided. She was gonna be a thief when she grew up. She’d been a lawyer, a cop, an FBI agent, thief was the next logical step.

Anyway. That’s a big tangent. Back to what Mahina was actually doing downtown.

She’d stopped stealing the fruit from Mrs Hasagawa. The guilt had been getting to her. When Mahina eventually became a professional thief, things like ‘guilt’ wouldn’t hold her down anymore. But anyway, without stealing the fruit, she needed _ food _ .

Lucky for her, someone had thrown out a computer. Mahina had some experience with computer analysis, so a couple of days connected to the local power grid had the computer running like normal. Mahina had been able to make a bogus credit card. The funds generated would be completely fake- just lines of code that led to nowhere. Not that the card readers were know. Think of it like monopoly money that actually worked in the real world because nobody knew what fake money was.

It was so much  _ work _ .

Mahina knew, that when she achieved her dream of being the next big thief (or some kind of ninja thief, that’d be so cool) she’d do less work than that. Three  _ days _ it took to make a fake credit card.  _ Three _ . Ugh. Exhausting.

She was walking in a grocery store. Mahina was actually proud of herself for doing it so naturally. She used a basket to pack all the food she wanted- and some plastic spoons. Mahina even grabbed some vegetables- even if they were  _ gross. _

That was just her child brain talking. Mahina was fully aware vegetables were important.

That didn’t mean vegetables weren’t gross. 

_ (Well except Veggietales. Those guys were great) _

Mahina heaved her basket to check-out. She dropped the basket on the counter. After, she put down the credit card she’d made. It looked a lot like the real deal- a stolen hotel key, lots of paint, and some good old elbow grease had it looking perfect. 

The cashier stared in confusion.

Mahina stood up on her tiptoes, peeking over the counter. “I would like to buy food please.” She stated.

The chaser gawked now.

Mahina pushed the basket- which was  _ heavy _ .

As though deciding she must be hallucinating, the cashier began ringing up the food.

Mahina beamed.

Two minutes later, she was walking away with the bags of food. They were heavy, but lighter than the basket. It would take Mahina awhile to get home but meh. Needs must.

She didn’t make it far away from the grocery store when she walked by Cobra Bubbles.

Talk about being starstruck.

Mahina stared.

Bubbles raised an eyebrow above his sunglasses.

Mahina stared back. She reminded herself to keep it cool. If you hadn’t done anything wrong, there was no reason to be suspicious. 

_ (Which was a lie. Mahina has done  _ a lot  _ wrong. But if she  _ believed  _ it, Bubbles would too...she hoped.) _

“That looks heavy.” He remarked.

Mahina shrugged. She had an idea in the works to fix that. She would need tiny wheels- which were hard to find in the trash. Also a plan. Honestly just finding a wagon would be easier...but Mahina apparently  _ liked  _ making her life difficult.

“I can handle it.” Mahina decides to say, when she realized she’d been quiet a while.

“How old are you?” Bubbles asked.

Mahina paused to remember. “Six.”

The eyebrow stayed.

“I’m big.” Mahina told Bubbles.

“What’s your name, little girl?” Bubbles asked.

She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers. And this stuff is heavy.”

Bubbles pulled out his ID badge. 

Mahina glanced at it. “Cobra is a weird name.”

Bubbles tucked the badge away. “Where are your parents?”

“Mommy’s at work, and Daddy’s taking a nap.” Mahina supplied.

Bubbles continued to stare beneath the sunglasses.

Mahina swore to one day to be that badass.

“And they sent  _ you _ for groceries?”

“No. Daddy’s chores are for Daddy but he was sleeping so long I knew he wouldn’t get it done in time.” The lie came together so fast in Mahina’s mind, she gave herself a self-five.

Bubbles lowered his eyebrow. “Who are you?”

“Mahina.” She answered. At his questioning eyebrow, Mahina shrugged. “I don’t know my other name.” She admitted. Because she well and truly had  _ no  _ idea what Mahina’s last name was. “I’m going home.”

Bubbles let out a sigh. “Look, Mahi-”

Mahina ran off.

“Hey!”

She ran around some alleyways, ducking behind things to keep out of Bubbles’ sight.

Somehow, she managed to do exactly that.

 

==M&J==

 

Later that night, Mahina was finishing up a can of corn. She had cooked it. She only  _ looked _ six, she wasn’t  _ actually  _ six. She was twenty-six. She could cook her food.

With it done, Mahina tossed the can away in a nearby garbage bin.

Mahina let out a sigh as she climbed back in her box. She had set it up to prepare for the upcoming rain, using a thrown out tent to lead the water away from her ‘home’.

She peeked out from the box, looking up at the sky. The stars were still shining bright. Mahina could make out the dark spots as clouds.

In the distance, thunder.

Mahina silently wished Stitch the best of luck. 

A green flash lit up the sky. 

Mahina tucked myself under her blanket, looking up at the green star that was falling. A gentle smile came to her face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we go! Originally I was gonna update once a week, but with everything else going on I decided monthly was better. Hope you guys like what we have so far!


	3. Fluffy

Mahina woke up the next morning, not really excited for the day. She tossed and turned in her sleeping bag bed.

On one hand: she knew how important today was. All the amazing things that would come in the future were started today. Stitch being adopted, that training montage, Nani being fired from her job, and then Stitch questioning basically his entire life’s purpose. Basically: a good day to exist alongside the characters.

On the other hand: that meant Mahina had to get out of bed.

So an even split.

After another twenty minutes of debate, Mahina got out of ‘bed’.

She’d decided that even if the effort wasn’t worth it, she could always come back to ‘bed’. She lived alone, who was gonna stop her from sleeping all day?

A worthy goal, if there ever was one.

 

==M&J==

 

Most of the morning went by fast, thankfully.

Mahina had gotten herself a juice cup, drinking it to get in some morning sugar while watching a boring street. She was aware she could’ve snuck down to the Pet Adoption clinic to watch Stitch get adopted, or to keep Jumba and Pleakley from going full idiot, but that was so much walking and Mahina had no bike.

She should really get around to stealing one...

Or building one.

Mahina huffed at the idea of doing work.

_ ‘Okay but let’s put a pin in that idea.’ _ Mahina told herself, sipping some more juice. 

_ ‘Cause a bike sounds cool. I mean unless it’s SuperBike. That thing is a demon nightmare...can’t wait to meet him.’ _

While Mahina enjoyed herself with a juice box, up the road Myrtle and her gang were riding this bikes. Mahina heard the jingling of the bells. She hummed in confusion.

_ ‘Feels a little early, for that. Unless-’ _ Mahina checked her wrist, which had no watch. _ ‘...in that case whatever time is the perfect time.’ _

The girls froze, as Stitch approached them.

Mahina’s heart literally exploded.

_ ‘HE IS EVEN CUTER AND FLUFFIER IN PERSON!’  _ She squeaked, cause it was true. Stitch was without a doubt the cutest thing that Mahina had ever seen.

And she’d seen newborn puppies.

_ ‘LOOK AT HIS EYES!’  _ Mahina cooed to herself.  _ ‘My heart is going to explode. It’s decided- it’s done. I’m just waiting for it to pop at the cuteness.’ _

“My friends!” Lilo shouted in delight. Lilo ran up the road to the other girls.

Mahina crossed the street, walking closer to them. She stopped to hide, unnoticed.

The girls screamed, trying to get away from Lilo. She ran in front of them to block their path.

“What do  _ you _ want?” Myrtle snapped.

“I’m sorry I bit you and pulled your hair and punched you in the face.” Lilo apologized.

“Apology  _ not _ accepted.” Myrtle answered. Mahina thought that was rather rude of the little girl. “Now get out of my way before I run you over.”

Stitch ran up to Lilo’s side, innocent as ever. Mahina cooed at him. The other girls straight up screamed. 

“I got a new dog.” Lilo cheered. “His name is Stitch.”

“That is the  _ ugliest thing _ I have ever  _ saw _ .” Myrtle insulted.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Mahina became enraged. She ran to the crosswalk, stopping at Stitch’s side. “Your dog is awesome!” Mahina told Lilo. “And he’s fluffy.”

Lilo beamed. “Thanks! Mahina, right?”

“Yeah!” Mahina had to hold back from squealing.  _ ‘Lilo knows my name- she knows my name-SHE KNOWS MY NAME!’ _

Stitch sniffed at Myrtle’s bike. “Eww! Get it away from me! I’m gonna get a disease!” Myrtle ordered.

Stitch pushed Myrtle off, jumping on the back. He lifted Lilo up onto the back of the bike.

Myrtle sobbed.

“Somebody do something!” One of the kids screamed.

Mahina waved Lilo goodbye. 

Once the two were off in the distance, Mahina had to run off to avoid the screaming children. The screams were irritating her. 

She didn’t get too far down the street before she saw him.

Bubbles!

There was a small squeak from somewhere. Mahina was not entirely sure who. It could’ve been another small child. Who knew?

She knew she had a real problem- she had to move  _ fast _ .

She spotted Pleakley and Jumba, pretending to hide behind newspapers.

Mahina saw an opportunity.

Mahina ran up to Pleakley and Jumba. The two aliens pretended she wasn’t there. “Okay. This is going to sound very weird, but I need you guys to pretend to be my parents. I’ll give you each twenty dollars.”

To prove it, she pulled up the two bills from her small knapsack.

Jumba sneered at the offered money. Pleakley on the other hand cooed in delight.

“I heard about this!” Pleakley cheered. He turned to Jumba, pulling him closer to whisper. “Those are called  _ ‘bucks’ _ . Earthlings exchange them for food or shoes!” They reaches for the twenty, staring at it with a wide eye of joy. “How fascinating!”

“Yeah they’re cool. Can I stand with you?” Mahina pressed. “That’s how ‘ _ bucks _ ’ work. I give you ‘ _ bucks _ ’, you go with it.”

“Really?” Pleakley asked.

_ ‘They are worse at pretending to be human than me.’  _ Mahina thought. “Yes.”

Pleakley stared in awe. “Amazing!”

So Mahina stood between the two aliens. She did her best to make it look natural, in preparation against Bubbles. She took one of the pieces of paper from them, reading it over. 

Someone walked up. Mahina ignored him, focusing instead on a story in the paper. 

A finger pushed the paper down. Mahina stared up at Bubbles. “Hello Mister Bubbles.” She greeted.

Bubbles glanced at Jumba and Pleakley. They lowered their papers, surprised to see the agent there. “Mahina.”

Mahina hummed. “This is she.” She used a hand to wave at him. “Hi again!”

Bubbles glanced up at the two aliens, who stared right back. “So. You’re Mahina’s parents?”

The two aliens reacted like any normal people would when told they’d been thrust into parenthood.

“Yep!” Mahina smiled. “This is the mother and the father. This is Mom.” Mahina introduced. “And this is my Pops!”

Pleakley smiled tightly. Jumba was-reasonably- annoyed. “Hey- you didn’t-”

“Oh yes. This is our little girl!” Pleakley cheered. He pulled Mahina up into his arms, which Mahina reasonably didn’t like. “Such a- sweetie!” Pleakley pinched Mahina’s cheek.

She jumped out of his arms, getting back to her feet. “See? Parents.”

Bubbles watched them from behind his sunglasses.

Mahina grinned happily back.

Bubbles looked up at Pleakley and Jumba. They were less cool under the pressure. Pleakley whistled loudly to pretend he was innocent. Jumba put the newspaper back over his face.

Bubbles hummed. “I’ll be seeing you around.” He pulled down the shades to give the two aliens harder stares. Pleakley winced, looking anywhere other than Bubbles. Jumba was hiding behind the newspaper still. “Good to see you up from your nap.”

Jumba ignored the humans.

When the agent walked away, into the rental car then driving out of sight, Mahina let out a relaxed breath. She plopped down on the ground, huffing.

“Great. Just _ great _ .” She muttered to herself. “That’s what I wanted today.”

“What just happened?!” Pleakley yelped, panicking.

“That was Cobra Bubbles, a social service worker.” Mahina explained. “He’s trying to take me away. But I like it here. So I’m not leaving.”

Pleakley rubbed her hair. “Don’t worry, little earth child. I’m sure you can stay.”

“I’m going to.” Mahina stated, confused at the idea that she’d be sent away from here.  _ ‘Like they could catch me. I was in the FBI for five years. I know all their tricks, the bastards.’ _ “So what’s next?”

“Nononono-not stay _ here _ .” He tried pushing her away by the pushing on her head. “Now, go away. We’re on important business! We don’t have time to  _ babysit!” _

“How’s stalking Lilo important business?” Mahina asked.

“You know that girl?” Jumba asked, sounding happy at the news.

“She’s my friend...ish.” Mahina admitted. “She’s probably chasing after her new dog, Stitch. Myrtle said he’s an ugly dog, but I think he’s cute and fluffy. Why’re you stalking Lilo?”

“We are not stalking earth girl.” Jumba explained with an overdramatic roll of his eyes. There was some heavy disgust in his voice, or maybe it was just his accent. “We are stalking little blue experi-” Jumba was elbowed by Pleakley.

“You’re stalking a little girl’s.. _.dog _ ?” Mahina pointed out. “That’s not much better...”

“We are not even stalking!” Jumba excused. “It was _ my _ experiment!”

“So why don’t you just tell Lilo that?” Mahina asked. “She’d probably give it back if you said your dog got lost.”

“Because...!” Jumba shouted, not dragging off. He looked at Pleakley. “Because...?”

“Because we can’t interact with the humans-I mean with the girl.” Pleakley answered.

Then it was like a spark went off between their two collective brain cells. Jumba and Pleakley looked down to Mahina, who was staring flatley at them. 

“...right.” Mahina remarked, dryly. “Would the dog bite you if you got close?”

“Possibly.” Jumba admitted.

“Jumba!” Pleakley hissed under his breath.

“Ah. Did you guys scare him? Cause I run away when I’m scared of something.” Mahina asked. “The best place is this tiny grove of trees in the woods-”

“Wait. You said you know girl with 626?” Jumba recalled.

Mahina beamed. “That’s Lilo.”

“So...you can show us where little girl is?” Jumba interrupted. “Help get back Experi-” He was elbowed again by Pleakley. “-...dog?”

Mahina nodded.

_ ‘Hook, line, and sinker. Guess it  _ was  _ a good idea to get out of bed.’ _

 

==M&J==

 

For the rest of the day, Mahina helped Jumba and Pleakley track down Lilo and Stitch. It was actually easy, once you got into the swing of it. Multiple failures at training a dog, which would’ve been better on an actually dog.

Mahina almost felt bad for Stitch. She knew what it was like to want to leave but you were tied down. Then again, she left places to help instead of destroy, so clearly the overlap want very far.

Jumba had taken great joy in seeing Stitch so distressed all day. Mahina had tried not to laugh, instead giggling behind more juice boxes. Whenever Jumba mocked Stitch, taunting him with the weapon or words yet not using the weapon, Mahina would turn away. Second hand embarrassment, ya know?

Mahina often used her ‘credit card’ to buy things while they watched. Pleakley seemed to tolerate her presence as long as Mahina gave them ‘bucks’. So who was she to argue? Plus Pleakley understanding of the monetary system of Earth was  _ hilarious.  _

As the sun set, Mahina’s party and Lilo’s party ended up at Nani’s place of work. It was pure luck they were sat beside Lilo’s table.

Mahina had ordered food for the table. She was eating a vegetable bowl (no matter how much her mind complained) while the aliens had some bigger meals with fish.

“This is ridiculous. I feel ridiculous.” Pleakley whined, running a hand in his new wig.

“No, it looks great.” Mahina assured. She bit into a carrot. “The black suits you better than the red.”

Pleakley pouted. “It’s still not fair.”

“Well...the dress looks nice.” Mahina tried again.

Jumba laughed. “HA! It looks like-”

“No! Shut up!” Mahina punched his arm. He yelped in surprise. Mahina leaned closer to him. “Do you want him to start crying?!”

Jumba winced. Pleakley was already whimpering, headed towards the start of a heavy sob fest. “Eh...it’s not  _ worst  _ dress.”

“Y-you- you mean it?” Pleakley asked.

Jumba rolled his eyes. Mahina glared at him. “ _ Yes _ .”

Pleakley beamed.

Mahina leaned towards Jumba. “But you were right. It’s ugly.”

Jumba grinned.

Mahina heard Lilo speaking at the next table. She leaned back in her seat, tilting her head so she could hear. 

“This is you. This is your badness level. It’s unusually high for someone your size.” Lilo explained to Stitch. “We have to fix that.”

David walked by the table. Mahina winced in sympathy at the soot marks all over his body.

“Ay-yi-yi, Lilo! Your dog cannot sit at the table.” Nani scolded.

“Stitch is troubled. He needs desserts.” Lilo assured.

“Oh, you didn’t even eat your sweet potato. I thought you liked them.” Nani commented.

“Desserts!” Lilo repeated. “David! I got a new dog.” Lilo announced.

“Oh! You sure it’s a dog?” David asked.

Jumba sneered- like he had any time today people called Stitch a dog. Mahina giggled. His irritation was hilarious.  

“Uh-huh. He used to be a collie before he got ran over.” Lilo explained.

Mahina giggled into her hand. Jumba scoffed.

“Yum!” Lilo cheered. Mahina grimaced at  the sounds of Stitch eating the two slices of cake. “Hey...” Lilo complained. Stitch spat the cakes back out. “Ew!”

Mahina giggled again. She couldn’t really see what was going on. A mixture of being too short and a screen divider between the two tables. 

“Howzit, Nani?”

“Did you catch fire  _ again _ ?”

“Nah, just the stage. Listen, I was wondering if you’re not doing anything this-”

Mahina took another big bite of her dinner. She glanced up, seeing Jumba reach for the phaser. Mahina did a quick switch- trading the gun for the leg of alien meat that Jumba thought he’d hidden rather well. It smelled like old beef. 

When Jumba raised the leg to fire, you can imagine his expression when he saw it was just the leg. He knew immediately who’d done it. “Pleakley-” He growled.

Pleakley looked up from the mirror he was looking in. He had been fluffing his hair. “Huh?”

Mahina snickered. She put the phaser away. She pulled out a string.

“Give me back-”

“Hey use this.” Mahina held out the string.

“I don’t need-” Jumba glared at her. “ _ You  _ took it-”

Mahina tilted her head in faux confusion. “Took what?” She held the string up higher. “Stealing is  _ wrong _ , Mister Jumba.”

Jumba glowered. “ _ You _ -”

“Jumba! Shh!” Pleakley scolded.

Jumba waved his arms at Mahina.

Pleakley hushed him again. He raised his hand, blocking his mouth from Mahina. “We can’t be  _ caught. _ ” He whispered. “We need her help to get back the prisoner!”

Jumba growled. He hated it when Pleakley took the girl’s side.

Still. He took the string from Mahina, tying around the bone of the meat leg.

Mahina beamed proudly at his simmering annoyance/rage.

Jumba tossed the leg towards Lilo and Stitch’s table. Mahina grimaced at the smell, going back to her nearly finished vegetable bowl. 

Stitch cooed. He sniffed, coming down from the table to follow it. 

Jumba grabbed Stitch by the back. He lifted him up by the scruff. “Aha! Look what I find!” Jumba boasted.

“Quit shouting!” Mahina scolded. “Other people can see!”

“Get restraints!” Jumba ordered Pleakley, speaking over Mahina.

“Right.” Pleakley nodded.

Mahina sighed, hiding her face behind her hand.

“Ow! Take that! Hurry!”

“Uh, hold still just a-”

Stitch leapt out from Jumba’s hands. He went over Mahina’s head, latching onto Pleakley. The alien screamed.

Nani ran up. She tried to pull Stitch off, but Stitch latched on. Mahina’s hand shot up, hitting Stitch in the stomach. The experiment whined, mouth opening wide. Mahina pulled him off Pleakley, tossing him to the ground.

“Sorry Lilo!” Mahina apologized, ducking behind her seat again.

Pleakley coughing, trying to get Stitch’s spit off his head.

Mahina was regretting every decision she had ever made in her life. She had hit Stitch.  _ Hit _ Stitch. Why hadn’t she just splashed him with the water jug?! Her life was over. _ OVER! _

The manager walked up to the table. “Hey, Nani! Is that your dog?” The manager demanded.

“Uh...” Nani turned to the small Reality Jumper.

Mahina was frowning guiltily at the server. “I’m sorry I hit him!” She repeated. “That was mean-”

“All is well.” Pleakley spoke up, finally done with coughing. He patted Mahina on the head. “Please, go about your business. I’m okay.”

“Oh, your head looks swollen.” Nani remarked.

“Actually, she’s just ugly.” Jumba answered dryly.

Pleakley laughed awkwardly. “Darling...He’s joking.” He waved his hand, dismissively. “Ugly... look at me...”

“He’s right, Mom, you’re ugly.” Mahina stated with the same bluntness. She added a wide smile. Jumba grinned smugly. “Don’t look too excited, Pops. You’re ugly too.”

Jumba gawked at her. “Why you little-”

Mahina stuck her tongue out at him. She ducked beneath the table.

“Get back here!” Jumba reached for her.

Climbing up from the other side of the table, Mahina made a dash for the exit. Jumba gave chase after her. Pleakley yelped in fear, rushing after the two of them.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina found them again on the hill side, watching over Lilo’s house.

Over her back was her sleeping bag, with a change of dress for tomorrow. She found Jumba looking through binoculars, while Pleakley was setting up equipment. 

“Hi.” She greeted.

Jumba jumped in the air, yelping. Mahina was surprised Pleakley hadn’t hit the tree, he jumped so high. She laughed on the inside. On the outside, she dropped her sleeping bag onto the ground.

“You scream really loud.” Mahina noted. She settled down on her sleeping bag while the aliens got their breathing back to rights. “You told me Stitch could hear it when you were loud. Isn’t he gonna hear you scream really loud?”

Jumba glared at Mahina. “You! How did you find us?!”

“You wanted to find Stitch, who wouldn’t leave Lilo.” Mahina listed. “So I knew you’d go to her house next. It made sense. And was I wrong?” Mahina waved her arms to the makeshift camp of the aliens.

Jumba huffed in annoyance. Cause unfortunately, she was right. “You- you!”

“Me- me.” Mahina replied. She sat down on her sleeping bag. “I’m super smart. Deal with it.”

“No! We do not need to deal with it! You will go home!” Jumba pointed off into the woods.

“A little girl in the woods at night?” Mahina questioned. “That’s insane. I could die. Then there would be questions, and the worst kind of questions, and Bubbles would ask the two of you those questions.” Jumba paused. Mahina grinned, pleased as punch. “See? Super smart.”

Jumba grumbled to himself, going back to the binoculars. 

Pleakley came up to Mahina’s side. “Sorry small- uh- girl. You need to go back home.”

“Okay.” Mahina shifted on her sleeping bag. She was proud of herself for the little joke, even if it was depressing. “Got it.”

“...now.”

“I said I got it.” Mahina replied.

“...so could you go-” Mahina gave Pleakley a look. He stopped. “-or stay. Or you can- stay. Wow that’s scary.”

Mahina beamed. “I know.” She’d been practicing it for decades- it was about time she got it right. Most of the time, her face was too cute for the Angry Glare to be perfect. But the  _ Disappointment Face _ ? Mahina could do that perfectly.

Jumba burst out laughing. “This little girl is wasting her time, its destructive programming.” Jumba continued to laugh. Mahina tilted her head. “Ooh! Push that over.” He was instructing Stitch, from his binoculars. He pulled away from them. Mahina went up to the binoculars. She looked through, seeing Stitch attacking ‘San Francisco’. “What are you doing?” Jumba asked Pleakley.

“Nothing!” Pleakley yelped.

“Uh, say, I want to try it on.” Jumba insisted.

Mahina snorted, giggling while keeping her eyes on Stitch.

“No!”

“Share! Let me try it!”

“Hey! Ow! You’re just jealous ‘cause I’m pretty!” Pleakley whined.

Mahina turned around, in time to see Jumba wearing the wig. She giggled at how stupid it looked on him. Jumba turned to him, narrowing his four eyes. 

“What are you laughing at?” Jumba questioned. Mahina giggled again. “Hey- hey! What is so funny?” She moved fast to dodge him, for he had charged at her continued giggles. “Stop that!”

“No!” Mahina giggled.

Pleakley yelped loudly.

Mahina wasn’t sure why for a second. She hadn’t stepped on him. Mahina gasped when she saw the mosquito resting on Pleakley’s arm.

“Don’t move.” Pleakley instructed Mahina and Jumba. “A mosquito has chosen me as her perch. She’s so beautiful.” 

“Pleakley that’s not a good-” Mahina squeaked, cowering away from the other approaching mosquitos.

Pleakley cooed at them. “Look, another one. And another one!” Soon, Pleakley’s entire head was covered in mosquitos. “Why, it’s a whole flock. And they like me! They’re nuzzling my flesh with their noses. Now they’re, um, they’re...”

The alien shrieked. Mahina pitied him.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina was wrapping gauze on Pleakley’s arm. The alien continued to whimper, pained.

“It’s so weird. Mosquito bites usually don’t hurt that bad.” Mahina remarked. She finished off the wrapping. “Usually the bites just itch really bad. Then again, those were a lot of them at once. Oh! Or maybe it’s cause you’re- ahem.”

“What?” Pleakley asked, snapping his head around to Mahina. “What is it? What happened?”

Mahina winced. “Nothing- nothing. Pretend I said noth-”

“No what is it?! What’s wrong?”

“Well maybe it’s because you’re an alien.” Mahina stated. “Your skin may be more thin than a human’s, which could be why it hurt.”

Pleakley gasped, flailing backwards. “Whaaaaaat?  _ Alien _ ? Haha nonono I’m not a-  _ no _ !” Pleakley laughed awkwardly.

Mahina sighed, lowering her head for a moment. When she raised it, her hands were on her hips. “You have one eye.” She remarked plainly.

“So?” Pleakley laughed awkwardly again. “That’s normal.”

“No, no. It’s really not.” Mahina shook her head. “Also you have three legs. You don’t have finger fingers on your hands, and there is an antenna on your head. You couldn’t be more alien if you tried.”

“I’m not an alien-”

“He has four eyes!” Mahina added, throwing her arms out towards Jumba. He’d looked into the binoculars once Pleakley started screaming to hide his own laughter. Pity, cause that meant Mahina had to be the Good One and tend to him. “And he’s purple!  _ Purple! _ You’re the worst fake humans I’ve ever met.”

Pleakley winced.

“What, got another argument that’s stupid?” Mahina asked, going back to settle on her sleeping bag. “Cause I’ve known all day and trust me, you two have only gotten more alien like.”

“Wait- you knew?!” Pleakley yelped. “All day!?

“Yes.” Mahina replied. “You were the worst fake humans I’ve ever met.”

“And- and you stuck around!?”

_ ‘Well...I’m the second worst fake human.’ _ Mahina thought to herself. “Yeah.” She beamed.

There was a long stretch of silence. Mahina settled under her sleeping bag. She was feeling tired, after the long craziness of her day.

“Now, this is interesting.” Jumba remarked.

“What?” Pleakley asked.

“To be a monster but now he has nothing to destroy.” Jumba explained. He settled onto his sleeping bag as well. “You see, I never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like to have nothing...not even memories to visit in the middle of the night?”

Mahina worried her lip under her teeth. She let herself think, ponder about the moments in her life. She was twenty-six, there were a lot of moments to wonder about.

“...he has today. And yesterday, and the day before that.” Mahina mused. The two aliens glanced at her. “He has day with Lilo. I bet...from what I’ve seen, I bet he wants more of those.”

Mahina herself could understand that. She could remember the few happy days she had, where she could forget that she was less than human. Days that made Mahina think it was worth it, that all the struggles she had gone through came through to give her this amazing day. It wa something to look forward to on the days where everything sucked. Mahina held onto the good days like they were a lifeline.

Days...like today.

“Your real mother and father must be worried about you.” Pleakley pointed out. He failed at trying to subtly push the Reality Jumper away from the camp.

Mahina curled away from them, snuggling deeper into her sleeping bag.

The scientist rolled his eyes. “Listen up.” He sounded angry. Mahina tilted her head curiously. “Leave us alone. We have more important things to deal with than  _ another  _ annoying Earth girl. We can follow them alone. No need for your help now. Go away.”

Mahina settled, crossing her arms under her head to serve as a pillow. “Mahina.”

Jumba rolled his eyes. “What?” He turned to Pleakley. “What does that mean?”

“It’s my name.” Mahina answered, ending the sentence with a yawn. “Mahina. It means moonlight. I like moonlight.” She yawned again, putting her head down next to Jumba’s bedroll.

The alien scientist was silent for a long time. She was starting to fall asleep.

“You should go home.” Jumba finally said.

“I don’t have one.” She replied with a yawn. “...Stitch got lucky. He found his in a day.”

_ ‘I’m still looking.’ _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May the 4th be with you!


	4. Family Beach Day

That morning, Mahina woke to Jumba’s snoring. Her bed was far enough away that she didn’t have it in her ear, but it was still annoying. Thankfully Pleakley’s snoring was more like bubbles popping than actual ‘shake the whole house’ snoring.

Mahina wondered how she was so lucky. She had gotten Jumba and Pleakley to go along with her bribe-excuse. She couldn’t believe they’d gone along with it. Granted, they believed Earth was a sanctuary for mosquitos, so maybe it wasn’t too far a leap. Still falling for the money thing...it was a chance bet.

More than that, Mahina was aware that it was Pleakley that was more convinced than Jumba. Jumba was using Mahina, as she was using them. Mahina was their street-knowledge. The know-how of Earth to finding Lilo, of blending into the background to keep them from being hunted. Mahina though...she was using them for different reasons, than just sticking close for the plotline. She wanted the attention. She had been  _ desperate _ for socialization.

She was a child. Could she be blamed?

Mahina set about packing up her small sleeping space. A simple roll up of her blanket, and she was gone. The sun was just over the skyline so there was still time before anyone got about with their day. Especially for the Pelekai’s, as they were still job-hunting for Nani and where they went, Jumba followed. Mahina had time to run back ‘home’.

It took her an hour to get to her box, and back to camp. It would have been shorter only she had stopped to stare at the box. The temporary home she had found herself in, when appearing in this world. The box which, for these past weeks, Mahina had called home. The box walls were still upright. Everything inside seemed untouched by damage since Mahina was here yesterday. Yet the box felt...lesser. Mahina had the sense that she’d outgrown it.

It made no sense.

Mahina couldn’t describe it any other way.

She grabbed another blue dress- changing into it quick as she was able. After quickly grabbing some supplies she would need that day, Mahina ran back to the makeshift camp. 

Once there, she saw Jumba had woken up some time in that hour. Moreover he did not look happy at her return. Mahina made sure to beam extra wide.

“Good morning!” She cheered, mindful of the still sleeping Pleakley.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t come back.” Jumba sneered.

“Which is exactly why I did.” Mahina stated back.

Jumba scoffed at that remark, going back to tucking away much of the campsite into what luggage they had. He didn’t want to admit it- but that remark actually impressed him. 

“Is he gonna wake up soon?” Mahina asked, pointing at Pleakley.

As if knowing he was being addressed, Pleakley snored loudly before turning in his sleeping bag. Still asleep though.

Jumba shrugged. “Don’t care.”

“I’ll wake him up.” Mahina cheered. She walked up to Pleakley’s side. Taking a deep breath, she began. “WAKE ME UP!”

Pleakley yelled. He leapt out of bed, limbs flailing about.

Jumba was trying very hard not to laugh.

“WAKE ME UP INSIDE!” Mahina was practically screaming. “I CAN’T WAKE UP! WAKE UP INSIDE! SAVE ME!”

Pleakley clapped his hand over Mahina’s mouth if only to shut her up. Jumba was laughing now- the big laughter that made your shoulders shake and you dropped down to the ground. Which he did, with a heavy thump. But Pleakley didn’t notice because now the singing had finally stopped.

“There we go, Earth child.” Pleakley patted her on the head. Mahina smiled sweetly beneath his hand. “No more singing that song. Correct?”

Mahina nodded. Innocent as a child could be.

Pleakley smiled. “Good.” He moved his hand.

_ “IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL-” _

Pleakley put his hand back. He glared at Jumba. The giant alien was rolling on the dirt, laughing at Pleakley’s expense. Mahina was smiling like the little shit that she truly was.

She was a child. Could she be blamed?

Pleakley narrowed his eye at her. “Jumba. Why is the- ah- little Earth person still here?”

“You are still under the obligation of money.” Mahina lied on the fly. She shrugged. “Sorry. Them’s the rules.”

Pleakley groaned, flopping against the ground.

Mahina beamed. Great- now she’d successfully annoyed two people, and gotten one to laugh. Her day is going from mediocre to great!

“So. Has Nani woken up yet?” Mahina walked over to the telescope- which Jumba hadn’t put away. “I doubt Bubbles will like that Nani lost her job last night. Social services likes it when the guardians have jobs.”

Jumba scoffed in disinterest. “I don’t care. We go after 626.”

“Well then you better be ready to do a lot of walking.” Mahina told him. “There are a lot of jobs around town. Nani will be searching all day. Best get on your best walking shoes.”

Pleakley laughed, waving his hand. “Oh I’m sure it won’t be _ all  _ day-”

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina was, once again, right.

They had been walking  _ all day _ , trying to follow Stitch again.

They lost him a few times. Mainly because Jumba ignored Mahina’s suggestions out of spite. Pleakley had seen some outfits he’d liked, so that dragged them off course too. He had tried to get Mahina something- well tried to get Mahina to get herself something, since it was her money they were using- her ‘money’ being stolen, so someone’s money- _ whatever- _ else to wear besides the blue dress. But Jumba had put his foot down because he saw Stitch walking up the road.

They stopped for lunch. Jumba really liked chicken. Pleakley was more towards fish. Mahina was just entertained watching them stomach Earth food.

All in all, a good day.

Which ended at the beach.

As they weeded their way through the screaming crowd, Mahina found herself humming  _ Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride. _

By the time the crowd thinned, Mahina was far enough into the song that she had started dancing to it.

“What are you doing?” Jumba asked, grumpy.

Mahina stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m singing, you meanie head!”

“You will get their attention!” Jumba 

“Then let it be gotten!” Mahina twirled in place.  _ “There is no place I’d rather be, than on my surfboard out at sea.” _ Mahina continued dancing around the beach. 

Jumba grumbled.

Pleakley stopped him. “We can’t make a scene! If they notice us we’ll be toast!”

With a grumbled complaint, Jumba obeyed.

Mahina continued on- dancing from a distance as the family out there began to surf.

Hours passed. The sun was beginning to set. It cast an orange glow on the sky, out onto the beach.

All the while, Mahina was singing to herself. Jumba and Pleakley were spying on Stitch, pointedly ignoring her. At one point Mahina stopped to get herself an ice cream. It was her stolen money, she could do what she wanted with it!

Unfortunately...in that time...everything went wrong.

Really, Mahina can’t leave these people alone for five seconds!

“Oh, can’t complain, Mom. I’m camping out with a convicted criminal and, uh... oh, I had my head chewed on by a monster!” Pleakley complained, while on the line with his mother.

Jumba- looking out a pair of binoculars- paused, extremely puzzled. “Wait...something is not right. Willingly to water.” He mused, seeing Stitch excitedly jump around the surfboard.

Pleakley’s communicator buzzed. “Oh, hold on, Mom... another call.” He answered it. He squeaked out at seeing who it was. Seriously, wasn’t caller ID a thing for aliens?

_ “Mr. Pleakley, you are overdue. I want a status report.” _ Grand Councilwoman stated.

“Oh, uh, things are going well.” Pleakley lied so blatantly that he almost grew a nose.

“He cannot swim!” Jumba remarked, more to himself than to Pleakley or Mahina.

Neither alien had noticed Mahina had vanished.

“Things are going well. Jumba, aren’t they going well?” Pleakley pleaded him to go along with the lie.

“Why will he risk drowning?” Jumba mumbled, continuing to watch as Stitch ventured out to sea with the humans.

“Jumba? Jumba, help me out here.” Pleakley begged.

_ “I would have expected you back by now, with 6-2-6 in hand.” _ The Grand Councilwoman stated, her disappointment clear.

“Just a few things left to pack and, uh, we’ll be-” Pleakley continued to lie.

“Hang up.” Jumba hung up the call. “We are going swimming.”

“Huh?” Pleakley asked.

Then they went swimming.

And the rest, unfortunately, happened as it did before.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina looked sadly out towards the ocean. They weren’t back...

She had only been gone five minutes.

She heard someone walking up behind her. Walking calmly across the sand without missing a step.”

“Mahina.” Bubbles greeted.

Mahina watched the shore line. “Bubbles.”

At the beach, Nani was bringing Lilo to a safe distance. David took Stitch, who wasn’t moving.

Mahina’s heart went out.

No sign of Jumba or Pleakley.

“Lilo? Lilo, look at me. Look at me, baby. Are you hurt?”

She couldn’t see any of the equipment they used.

“No.”

She couldn’t see his binoculars or Pleakley’s phone.

“He’s unconscious, but I think he’s alive.”

She missed the scene? How could she have missed the scene? She wasn’t gone that long!

Stitch shot awake, coughing out ocean water. Nani yanked Lilo out of his reach. David pulled Stitch away. Stitch deflated when he realized they were hiding from him.

_ She was supposed to stop things like this. _

Nani finally noticed Mahina, or rather Agent Bubbles standing stoic behind her.

“David, take Lilo.” Nani requested. “This isn’t what it looks like. We were... It-Its just that...”

“I know you’re trying, Nani but you need to think about what’s best for Lilo... even if it removes you from the picture.” Bubbles advised her. Nani’s eyes were watering. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning for Lilo. I’m sorry.”

Mahina had another bite of ice cream. It had started melting onto her hand. She may be struggling internally but she had her priorities straight!

“I’m sorry, Mahina, but I need to take you too.” Bubbles explained, in his sympathetic tone. “I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

Mahina frowned, looking back to the ocean. They were okay. They would wash up to a beach, and meet a shark. They were gonna be okay.

_ But deep down she knew...they weren’t coming back for her. _

_ Maybe if she hadn’t been so annoying- _

_ Maybe if she had actually helped for once- _

_ Maybe if she had bought _ them _ some ice cream- _

Mahina pushed down those emotions. She turned to Stitch, walking up to the poor blue experiment.

He was watching Lilo, a haunted look in his all black eyes.

Mahina could understand a look like that.

She’d been on the other side too often for her short years of life.

Mahina patted Stitch on his head. “Don’t worry. Things’ll be okay. I know they will.” She assured him, because that was all she could do. “You’ll be okay, Stitch. I promise.”

Then she turned around before Stitch could say anything- if he even wanted to say anything- to walk to Bubbles’ car.

By the time Jumba or Pleakley noticed she was gone...it was too late.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooohhhhhhh it’s gonna get a lot sadder from here, folks...a LOT sadder...hehehe.


	5. She Went On A Speedrun

Alright, well, Mahina would normally  _ love _ staying in a hotel room- especially one that she wasn’t paying. One of her old jobs had her moving around the country a lot, which meant a lot of hotel rooms with no charge to herself.

Point was- she  _ could _ have stayed with Cobra Bubbles until it was time to collect Lilo.

However Mahina understood something that Bubbles did not.

That everything was about to fall apart, at the Pelekai residence. So if Mahina wanted to minimize damage she would need to sneak out.

She did so, rushing out of the hotel room and disappearing before Bubbles could catch up to her. She was extremely intelligent- she knew how to hide when it came down to it.

She ran fast- fast- fast- to Lilo’s house. It had been exhausting work, and any normal child would’ve been already asleep. Mahina was special though, so she kept on going forward. She ended up almost running into David and Nani. Mahina had ducked into the bushes just before they spotted her.

She ran to the house.

Yes, she spotted Jumba down below.

No she wasn’t even mad at him. How could she be? She was the only one who knew the plot was going on.

Mahina ran inside the house, sneaking in through the doggy door that someone really  _ should  _ nail down. 

“Stitch? What is it?” Lilo asked, hesitant.

“Shh!” Stitch ordered.

“Lilo!” Mahina called out, rushing to her.

“Mahina?!” Lilo gasped. “I thought you-”

“Ran away, duh, we need to go-” Mahina was interrupted by a loud thud.

Jumba stomped inside. He beamed at Stitch. “Oh, hiding behind your little friend- oh little girl!” Jumba cackled Mahina’s direction. “We were wondering what had happened to you! Pleakley was convinced you had been eaten by a shark.”

Mahina gawked. That sounded way more badass than what actually happened.

“But it won’t work anymore. Didn’t I tell you? We got fired this morning.” Jumba laughed. He waved the laser gun in his hands. “New rules.”

Stitch pushed Lilo and Mahina aside. They went into the side room. Mahina watched from the safety of that room. 

Jumba fired the gun.

Stitch caught the blast. “Ha!” He laughed. It started to burn, so he tossed it about before throwing it at Jumba. 

There was a loud boom. Mahina winced. Music started up a moment later.

Stitch ran into the side room, panting.

“What are we going to do?” Lilo asked.

“Your doll! Do you have it?!” Mahina asked.

“Yes?” Lilo held up the doll. “But-”

“Stitch can probably do an alien thing! Right?” Mahina asked Stitch.

The little blue experiment smiled. The idea came to him in that instant. “Eh.”

Stitch, Mahina, and Lilo instantly begin working out the plan. Lilo attached her doll to a gas pump, knocking her out for the surgery. Stitch used his claws to open the doll, while Mahina gathered the many tools.

They managed a good system. Stitch would work, then request a tool. Mahina quickly translated, getting the tool from somewhere in the room. Lilo would get it from Mahina, then pass it to Stitch.

Stitch gabbled in the language. 

“Pliers.” Mahina tossed it to Lilo.

“Pliers.” Lilo handed the pliers to Stitch.

Stitch gabbled another word.

“Screwdriver!” Mahina reported, tossing another tool to Lilo.

“Screwdriver.” Lilo passed it to Stitch.

After a few twists and turns with 

“Check.” Stitch stated. 

Lilo stitched up her doll, using a button to keep the stitching shut.

“Come out, my friend from whomever you’re hiding behind.” Jumba called out.

Mahina put the doll on a rollerskate, pushing it forward. It rolled into the hallway.

“What the? Ooh!” Jumba cooed.

The doll exploded.

Jumba rolled back into the kitchen by the force of the explosion.

Stitch laughed. He rushed to the kitchen, distrating Jumba.

Mahina was about to make a ploy for running out, before quickly scrapping the idea. “Do you have anything to hit him with?” Mahina asked.

Lilo nodded.

When the two grabbed their chosen weapons, they heard a loud thud coming from the living room. Jumba had- by then- collapsed the ceiling onto Stitch.

Lilo and Mahina ran to it. Lilo, holding a broom. Mahina, weilding a baseball bat.

“You could do with a makeover. I tried to give you my good looks but let’s face it, something went wrong.” Jumba explained, pushing aside bits of broken ceiling and floor.

“No!” Lilo yelled. She whacked Jumba’s side with the broomstick. 

Mahina jumped in too. She whacked Jumba’s back with the bat.

Stitch came up from the wreckage. He roared at Jumba, heaving the hefty alien from the two girls. Jumba was tossed out a window.

“Quick!” Lilo yelled. She grabbed Mahina’s hand, then Stitch’s. The two followed behind her. “Follow me! If we make it to-” She swung the back foot open.

Mahina had to quell any joy she experienced at the sight. 

Pleakley stood on the other side. They gasped at the sight of the two humans. “You’re alive!”

Lilo slammed the door shut. “They’re all over the place!”

Mahina whirled around at the sound of Jumba laughing. He walked into the laundry room. “Running away? Here... let me stop you.” Jumba threw a Swiss army, uh, thing.

Mahina pulled Lilo and Stitch out of the line of fire. She made sure to dodge the aliens as she brought them to the kitchen.

Lilo made a run for the phone. Stitch ran off- Mahina knew to grab the punch buggy. Lilo quickly dialed the number.

“Hello? Cobra Bubbles?” Lilo began. “Aliens are attacking my house.”

Mahina made herself giggle- if only to quell her rising panic. “They’re fighting Lilo’s dog.”

She couldn’t hear Bubbles’ reply. Pleakley has yanked the phone from Lilo’s hands. “No, no, no! No aliens!”

“Blue punch buggy!” Stitch cackled from the door. There was a loud crash. Mahina tried kicking at Pleakley’s legs.  “No punch back.”

Pleakley picked up Mahina by the back of her neck, holding her a safe distance from their legs.

“There’s no need to alert the authorities.” Pleakley used their other hand to grab the phone from Lilo. “Everything’s under control.” They mumbled into the line.

Mahina could hear him that time.  _ “Lilo, Mahina, who was that?” _

There was a loud growling noise.

“Lilo. Is that-” Mahina began.

“Oh, good, my dog found the chainsaw.” Lilo remarked. She dropped the phone, running towards it.

Mahina shoved her foot on Pleakley’s belly. The alien coughed- dropping Mahina.

“Don’t run to it!” Mahina scolded, running after Lilo. “Now she’s got  _ me  _ doing it!”

Stitch cackled, rushing towards Jumba with the chainsaw. Jumba threw a plunger at his head. The force dropped Stitch to the ground. He found the plasma gun, aiming to fire.

“Ha!” Stitch boasted.

Jumba stuffed a carrot in the end. Stitch slumped. “You shouldn’t play with guns.”

“Oh, okay.” Stitch tossed the gun to Jumba.

“Thank you.” The gun began to make a groaning noise. “Oh, I just remembered. It’s your birthday! Happy birthday!” Jumba tossed it back at Stitch.

“Merry Christmas!”

“It’s not Christmas.”

“Happy Hanukkah!”

Pleakley picked up Mahina and Lilo. The alien rushing out of the house.

“Put me down!” Mahina ordered.

“We’re leaving Stitch?” Lilo gawked.

“Trust me. This is not going to end well.” Pleakley excused.

Sure enough- as they ran from the house it  _ exploded.  _

So strong that the blast forced the humans from Pleakley’s grasp.

Mahina landed at the base of a tree. She stared at the destruction...wondering to herself why she ever thought she could stop it.

 

==M&J==

 

Bubbles came soon after. The fire department behind him.

Mahina had brushed off any twigs from her hair at that point. 

Bubbles found her first, as Mahina walked up to him. Surrendering herself for a moment of peaceful thought.

Mahina hopped into his car, pouting as she got comfortable in her seat. Bubbles buckled Mahina in, and gave her a sad look. “I’m sorry, Mahina, but this is the way things have to be.”

Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I know.” She spoke the words in a voice that spoke of deep loss.

Bubbles worked to getting Lilo into the car. She was excitedly talking about Pleakley and Jumba. Mahina tuned it out, turning away from it. It only reminded her of how things had fallen apart.

“One of them had a giant eye in the middle of his face.” Lilo finished her story, as Bubbles places her beside Mahina.

Nani ran to the car. Bubbles closed the door shut. “Oh, Lilo! Please don’t do this.” Nani pleaded.

“You know I have no choice.” Bubbles reminded her.

Mahina looked at Lilo from the corner of her eye. The small girl was staring out the window towards her sister.

“No! You’re not taking her!” Lilo flinched back in surprise. “I’m the only one who understands her! You take that away, she won’t stand a chance!”

“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.” Bubbles told her.

“You don’t know what you’re doing! She needs me!” Nani pleaded.

“Is this what she needs?!” Bubbles ranted.

Mahina had heard enough. She popped the door beside her open, unbuckling her seatbelt. She nodded her head towards Lilo. “Come on- let’s go.”

Lilo hesitated for only a second. She crawled out of the car with Mahina. Both girls rushed off into the expanse of trees.

“Lilo! Mahina!” Bubbles yelled, but the girls kept running. “Lilo! Mahina!”

They were long gone.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina and Lilo stopped deep in the woods. Mahina sat down, catching her breath. She’d done a lot of running today- it was starting to get to her. Honestly it was too early for all of this craziness. Couldn’t she get another eight hours of sleep or something?

Lilo gasped.

Mahina tiredly turned her head. She rolled her eyes at seeing Stitch, going back to curling down to get a few breaths. Stitch held out the partially burned picture to Lilo.

“You ruined everything.” Lilo accused Stitch. Mahina thought that was rather rude- the experiment had been doing something nice.

Stitch shifted into his normal form. Mahina wanted to coo at how adorable he looked. She ended up letting out a tired hum.

“You’re one of them?” Lilo asked, shocked.

“I knew Jumba and Pleakley.” Mahina admitted, blinking slowly. “The aliens from the house- I knew them. Been with them for two days.”

Lilo turned to her, only looking more betrayed.

“Sorry.” Mahina yawned. “Wasn’t- wasn’t supposed to go like this.” She yawned again.

It was true, as far as Mahina was concerned. She had hoped that she could stop the house from exploding- it hadn’t gone well. She had hoped she could stop Bubbles from having to take Lilo away- or herself away- that hadn’t worked. She had hoped to stop Gantu from-

Hold on.

She hadn’t stopped Gantu from coming.

“Get out of here, Stitch.” Lilo snapped at the experiment.

Her eyes widened. “Lilo!” Mahina stood up, trying to push Lilo out of the way.

Before she could, they were trapped.

Gantu had fired the trap at them.

Mahina screamed when she was bound with Lilo and Stitch. She had hit her head on the tumble. 

“Surprise!” There was laughter from Gantu. He lifted them up. Mahina could feel her elbow on Stitch’s back, felt Lilo’s legs kicked at her own sides. It was painful. “And here I thought you’d be difficult to catch. Ho-ho-ho. Silly me.”

Gantu dumped them down into the container. It hurt worse to have Lilo dropped onto her. All the air in her lungs rushed out. Mahina was ready to sleep for like, a day, now. She probably would if this flight didn’t kill her. 

The container was stuck on the back of his ship.

“There you go, all buckled up for the trip.” Gantu boasted. Stitch snarled at him. “And look... I even caught you some little snacks.”

Lilo squeaked, cowering away from Gantu.

Mahina growled. Exhausted, but she still did her best.

Gantu only grinned- victorious. He walked off to the front.

Mahina squinted, looking out the glass. She could barely spot Nani at the treeline. She waved at her, then started banging on the glass. Stitch made his escape, pushing himself out from the glass.

He seemed to realize at the last second that he needed to get the girls out too. He had barely made eye contact with Lilo when the ship blasted away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly missed my own self-imposed deadline. That was close! _(looks at the other chapters of things I wrote today- and published- before this one)_ Uhh...happy treason day. Goodbye!


	6. Ohana Means Family

The ship was flying towards the atmosphere. 

At this point it was fair to say that Mahina’s plan had fallen apart. Come on, who could’ve known that she’d be abducted by aliens today? Who plans for that kind of problem?! Well besides Mahina who knew well and good- it’d just come as a surprise okay?! She’d just escaped being  _ blown up. _

That being said- Mahina had closer dangers before. She was still standing! Good for her!

She was just really hoping she’d get to fly in the red spaceship today... _ damn. _

To her left, Mahina heard a sniffle. She turned to see her fellow abductee clutching tight to a half burned photo. Lilo had tears in her eyes, just beginning to drip onto her cheeks. Mahina winced as Lilo began to curl into a ball to hide her quiet sobs.

Great.

Now Mahina felt guilt.

When she was a proper adult, would guilt go away? Cause this feeling _ sucked _ .

She hoped so.

Mahina sat down in the glass jar. She pressed her feet against the front to keep herself from being tossed about. Her back pushed against the other side. She could only hope it would be enough. She had a bigger issue right now.

She had to show empathy.

She was 26, she didn’t understand empathy!

_ Oh Author she’s doomed. _

Mahina opened her mouth, ready to say anything. You know, probably about how these aliens probably weren’t going to eat them or lay eggs inside of them. Even if they were then maybe they’d be killed before the eggs were laid!

_ (She’s bad at things like comfort too- crying was going on, she’s not at her best) _

Before she could get that utterly ridiculous statement out, a red metal wing poked out from the clouds.

Mahina poked Lilo’s arm. The little girl curled tighter in her ball, still sobbing.

“It’s another ship!” Mahina told her.

Lilo’s sobs quieted. She turned her head, just as the sounds of it’s engine hit them. Both girls sat up on their knees, pressing their palms against the glass. 

The red ship came up over the cloudline. Mahina spotted Stitch in the window. Beside him stood Pleakley.

Stitch waved at them. Pleakley was nervously fretting, rubbing his hand on the side of his face. If he had any hair, he’d be pulling it out.

Lilo waved back at Stitch.

Mahina stared at Pleakley in confusion. Was...was he showing  _ concern? _

Forgetting crying. At least crying people only focused on themselves. Concerned people focused on you- which was arguably worse.

The red ship moved to fly alongside Gantu’s ship. Mahina watched the ship veer off, still very confused at Pleakley’s wave. What had  _ that _ been about?

She then quickly realized what it meant for Jumba’s ship to be there. She braced herself again, pushing herself into a ‘locked’ position. Just in time for the ship to tilt. Lilo screamed, falling to the other side. Mahina had barely kept herself in place.

Mahina usually loved flying in airplanes. Even when there was turbulence, she enjoyed it. This wasn’t turbulence it was  _ bullshit! _

Gantu titled his ship the other way. Lilo fell onto Mahina. The girl in blue lost her grip, falling against the other side. Vengeance was had when the ship tilted the other way. Mahina was certain she’d bruised something on her landing. On herself  _ and _ on Lilo. 

Meh.

What was life but one big bruise?

Soon the ship balanced out. Mahina let out a pained groan, pushing Lilo off. Lilo rolled away to the other end. Mahina braced herself once more. After a second, Lilo copied her.

That was when Stitch appeared. He crawled on the ship towards their glass cage. Mahina stared at him, watching as he clawed at the glass. Lilo beamed in relief.

The two engines on the ship turned their fire on Stitch. Mahina hid her face in her arm, blinded by the bright light from the fire. When she looked back Stitch was falling towards the Earth.

“Stitch!” Lilo cried out.

“He’ll be fine!” Mahina told Lilo, but it didn’t sound reassuring.

Case in point: Lilo was beginning to panic.

Mahina held back rolling her eyes. Lilo was a tiny child, panic was a reasonable reaction. It’s just...Mahina was annoyed that an Emotion was being experienced.

The ship was flying towards the ground. Mahina saw no sign of Jumba’s ship. It was honestly a little reassuring. Gantu lifted up his ship at the last moment. Then, Mahina and Lilo caught sight of Stitch, laying flat on the asphalt. He stood up, holding a frog in his arms.

“Don’t leave me, okay?” Lilo begged.

They couldn’t hear his answer. Mahina could barely see Stitch nodded, but that was a stretch.

The ship moved again. Mahina’s hands were starting to sweat, making keeping traction hard. Lilo was struggling too.

Mahina spotted volcanic rock soon enough. She flinched on instinct from the bright orange lava, flinching more so at the sight of Stitch driving a gas truck into a lava pit. The ship turned before they could see if he was okay.

“Stitch!” Lilo cried out.

Stitch turned towards the ship. Not that either girl could see- of course. 

The ship shook. Lilo turned her head about, trying to see what caused it. Mahina was aware that it was Stitch being blasted into the windshield.

“Look!” Mahina spotted Jumba’s ship. It was flying just below them- finally having caught up.

Suddenly Gantu fell onto the red ship. Lilo cheered, smiling wide.

Mahina really hoped this ship was on auto-pilot.

To her relief, yes.

How did she learn this, you may be asking?

Cause Gantu started _ firing on his own ship. _

The ship corrected itself, yes, before it could go off course. Only problem was that Mahina and Lilo  _ were still there! _

Stitch showed up- a lucky savior. He bashed his skull against the glass, shattering it. Mahina and Lilo ducked to avoid the glass. Stitch reached inside, pulling Lilo out.

“You came back.” Lilo mused with glee.

“ _ Nobody _ gets left behind.” Stitch reminded her, as he pulled out Mahina with his two other arms.

Lilo kissed Stitch on the head. 

Mahina was in a bigger hurry to be off the  _ exploding ship of doom. _

Stitch leapt off just as the ship exploded. Lucky for them they landed on the red ship. 

Less lucky was the giant smoke cloud that came from it.

As the ship emerged from it, Lilo beamed. “Good dog!” Lilo praised Stitch. He was holding: the ship’s wing, Lilo, Mahina,  _ AND  _ the back of Gantu’s shirt.

Honestly it  _ was _ pretty impressive.

 

==M&J==

 

Mahina cheered with the other humans as they landed on the water.

They spotted David up ahead. He had clearly just finished surfing. 

“David!” Lilo called out. 

The surfer turned to them. “Hey, Lilo.”

Mahina let out a small sigh of relief. At last, a place she felt normal! Come on- a normal person would be freaking out right now! Oh this place was a dream come true!

“Can you give us a ride to shore?” Lilo asked.

David glanced at the seven creatures. He hesitated for less than a second. “Uh... Sure! But I have to make two trips.”

Yes. Mahina was proud of the weirdos in this town.

 

==M&J==

 

She sat back with Lilo as David brought them back to shore. They had been the last three. Gantu swam himself- too big for the board. Stitch had taken a while for be assured he wouldn’t fall into the ocean. Previous experience didn’t give him the strictest confidence of surfboards.

By the end Lilo had convinced him it was great.

“So you’re from outer space, huh? I heard the surfing’s choice.” David complimented.

Stitch smiled at David. They pulled up the beach, close enough that Stitch could jump without getting splashed.

They never had the chance to check that distance. Stitch was grabbed by a lizard alien dressed in a lab safety suit. The alien slapped cuffs on Stitch’s four arms.

“We have 6-2-6.” The lizard alien announced to the Grand Councilwoman.

Mahina had to sit up to see her over David’s shoulder. “Take him to my ship.” The Grand Councilwoman instructed the worker.

The lizard alien nodded. He moved towards the ship.

“Leave him alone.” Lilo ordered. She hopped off the surfboard, stomping towards the Grand Councilwoman.

Agent Bubbles stepped in. “Hold on.” Bubbles warned.

Mahina moved to follow, only to feel a hand around the back of her neck. “Hey-!” She was dragged to the side. When she looked up, she saw Jumba’s hand on her neck. “Hey.” She greeted flatly, stunned.

Jumba said nothing. He only let out a long breath. 

Mahina wondered when he was going to let go of her neck. It wasn’t painful or anything. She could still breathe. It was...nice. She was able to get a look in all four of his eyes, to her curiosity there was confusion there. Confusion and...concern? Hmm. What a fun development.

Pleakley seemed to be somewhere between relieved and crying. As Mahina stated before, she didn’t like crying people. Pleakley was on  _ thin ice. _

“Grand Councilwoman, let me explain.” Gantu pleaded.

“Silence! I am retiring you, Captain Gantu.” The Grand Councilwoman stated.

Pleakley’s common sense seemed to win out for a moment. He stepped forward, temporarily blocking Mahina from the sight of the aliens. “Actually, credit for the capture goes to-”

“Goes to me.” The Grand Councilwoman informed him. Pleakley winced. Mahina tensed. She glanced around Pleakley at the tall thin blue alien. She was not pleased. “You’ll be lucky if you end up on a Fluff Trog farm after we sort this thing out.”

“Uh...” Jumba began backing away. As he had not let go of Mahina, she ended up  being dragged behind him. “I think I should-”

“ _ You _ ! You’re the  _ cause _ of all this!” The Grand Councilwoman ranted.

Mahina narrowed her eyes. “If it was his fault then why did you send him in the first place?” Mahina asked.

The Grand Councilwoman narrowed her eyes. Bubbles tried to move in, only for Jumba to pull Mahina back. It didn’t stop Mahina from glaring. “If it wasn’t for your Experiment 626 none of this-”

“Stitch.” Stitch corrected.

“What?” The Grand Councilwoman turned towards him.

“My name Stitch.” Stitch stated.

The Grand Councilwoman accepted that- not breaking stride in her rantings. “Stitch, then. If it wasn’t for  _ Stitch- _ ” The Grand Councilwoman paused at the name. She turned towards her own spaceship.

Stitch had paused on the ramp.  “Does Stitch have to go in the ship?”

The Grand Councilwoman blinked. “Yes.” She answered. She was going slightly into shock at the intelligent conversation she was having with Stitch. Last time, he had just muttered and hissed (also spat out curse words). 

Mahina was smug. 

“Can Stitch say good-bye?” Stitch requested.

The Grand Councilwoman seemed to realize something- realize that yes, she was speaking with Stitch  _ and he had asked to say ‘goodbye’? _ She was so stunned there was only answer. “Yes.”

“Thank you.” Stitch walked down the ramp. He walked over to Lilo and Nani.

Mahina was still grinning smug. Jumba had let her go, but he kept his hand ready in case he needed to make a quick mouth-cover. In his defense, she’d talked back to the Grand Councilwoman. He was right to be nervous she would do it again.

Stitch arrived at Lilo. The little girl hugged him.

“Who are you?” The Grand Councilwoman asked, staring at the two humans in confusion. 

The hug broke off. “This is my family.” Stitch explained. Lilo smiled, proud. “I found it all on my own. It’s little and broken... but still good.” Stitch turned back to his family, seeing them happy in one finally memory before he left them. “Yeah. Still good.”

Mahina rushed towards the alien. Jumba had tried to stop her, only she had been too fast.

“You can’t make him leave.” Mahina stated to the Grand Councilwoman. 

The alien sighed in reply. “Unfortunately our laws are absolute. I  _ cannot _ change what the Council has decided.”

“Well too bad! There’s a legal bound contract keeping Stitch to Earth!” Mahina argued. She turned to a confused Lilo. “The shelter?”

Lilo’s eyes lit up in understanding. Behind her, Bubbles was giving a proud grin. Lilo pulled out the pink slip, rushing to Mahina’s side.

“Hey! Three days ago, I bought Stitch at the shelter.” Lilo rambled. “I paid two dollars for him.” She handed the pink slip over to the towering alien. “See this stamp? I own him. If you take him, you’re stealing.”

The Grand Councilwoman stared at it. While yes, this  _ was  _ a binding contract it had occurred  _ after  _ the Council’s decision. Perhaps...just this  _ once _ ...she could ignore that little detail.

Mahina was only more smug.

“Aliens are all about rules.” Bubbles mused.

The Grand Councilwoman glanced at the agent. “You look familiar.”

“CIA. Roswell. 1973.” Bubbles reminded.

“Ah, yes. You had hair then.” She recalled fondly. She smiled down at the Hawaiian girls. “Take note of this.” She told the lizard aliens.

Lilo beamed.

The Grand Councilwoman reached down, picking Stitch up. Once in her arms she unlocked the cuffs. He rushed over to his family, hugging them.

“This creature has been sentenced to life in exile a sentence that shall be henceforth served out here...on Earth...and as caretaker of the alien life-form, Stitch this family is now under the  _ official _ protection of the United Galactic Federation.”

Stitch and the Pelekais met in a warm hug. All of them had happy smiles on their faces. 

Mahina walked back to stand with Jumba and Pleakley. 

“We’ll be checking in now and then.” She advised Bubbles.

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Bubbles sighed though sounding not at all disappointed. “This won’t be easy to explain back at headquarters.”

“I know what you mean.” She laughed fondly. She looked over to her two troublemakers. They waved politely. Mahina stood in front of them, arms crossed over her chest and posture saying  _ ‘try anything I dare you’ _ . “Who are you, then?”

“Mahina Alana.” She answered. “And this are  _ my  _ family. We have a contract. They pretend to be my parents, and I introduce them into Earth culture. They can’t leave as they have yet to obligate their half of the bargain.”

The Grand Councilwoman hadn’t even  _ planned _ on taking the two away- too much hassle. Seeing them be defended so strongly surprised even them, who were staring down at Mahina in confusion. The alien was most surprised at their end of the bargain- to be Mahina’s parents. While Pleakley could do alright in the long run, it was confusing to imagine Dr Jumba Jookiba as a father to something that wasn’t an abomination. 

She bowed her head to the small Reality Walker. “You will watch them?”

“Yes.” Mahina stated.

“Keep them out of trouble?”

“To the best of my ability.” Mahina promised.

The Grand Councilwoman nodded. “Then by all means- keep them.”

Mahina’s posture relaxed only slightly. She kept her stance in front of Jumba and Pleakley.

The Grand Councilwoman walked into her ship. Her lizard alien workers scrambled on behind her. They blasted off into space.

“CIA?” Nani asked Bubbles when the beach stopped throwing up sand.

“Former. Saved the planet once. Convinced an alien race that mosquitoes were an endangered species.” Bubbles explained. Mahina giggled under breath. “Now, about your house...”

Mahina beamed brightly. “Oh I have an idea!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day late but I did my best!


	7. Mahina & Pops

The reconstruction of the Pelekai house went a lot faster than people expected. Mahina wrote that off as aliens helping it along. She herself had done what she could, which mostly ended up with her painting a lot of the finished up parts of the house.

It had been a week after the Grand Councilwoman. No time had been wasted, as far as reconstructing. Bubbles had received permission from HQ to provide aid, especially when he brought up the whole thing with aliens.

Mahina was surprised they didn’t have Men In Black dropping down to clean up. Then again, she was overly paranoid sometimes. Maybe she shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

At one point in all of this, Mahina realized she needed a change of clothes. She’d been borrowing Lilo’s old ones, which thankfully few among them had noticed. She’d left her clothes at her Box so she needed to leave the construction site.

Nani had brought Lilo and Mahina to hula practice. Though Mahina didn’t take the classes, it was still a kind of supervision while they rebuilt. It had caused somewhat of a stir when Mahina began walking away from the building.

Nani only noticed because she was headed back to her rented car (after Stitch crashed the last one into Jumba’s face). “Hey! Where are you going?” Nani asked.

Mahina blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “To get new clothes?”

“What? We can get you some at the store.” Nani dismissed. “Go back inside.”

“But...I already have clothes?” Mahina explained, only more confused. “Why would we need more when I have plenty?”

Nani huffed. She had spent the past week around Mahina, so she knew how Mahina was in a lot of ways just a kindred spirit to Lilo. “Alright. Let’s get you those clothes.” She tucked her rented keys into her pocket, following Mahina.

Mahina gawked. She hadn’t wanted an adult to see her house. House was a generous term, yes. Mahina was embarrassed by it- despite her refusal to acknowledge the emotion. She knew if she saw any kid living like she was, she’d sweep them away without a thought. It was harder on this side. Harder to keep adults from taking away the one safe space Mahina had crafted for herself. 

She still wasn’t unconvinced that once the damage was fixed, Bubbles would take her away. She knew she could escape him, find a way to hide long enough for him to have to give up. 

Mahina only wanted to help.

She wouldn’t be able to in whatever new home Bubbles sent her.

She smiled as an idea came to her. “Okay. Sure.” Mahina continued on her walk, pausing long enough for Nani to catch up. “But you have to catch me.”

Then, like a horse at the Kentucky Derby, Mahina  _ ran _ .

“Hey!” Nani called out. She gave chase after the small girl.

 

==M&J==

 

Nani caught up with her. Eventually. She chalked it up to nothing short of a stroke of luck.

Mahina was indeed quite good at evading adults. Her short size, partnered with the fact that there was an adult mind in her head, made her a fearsome opponent. 

Still. It was a tiny island.

And the alleyways made a small sort of echo when someone spoke into them.

That’s how Nani found Mahina, talking to herself as she grabbed items for a lone box propped up against a wall in an alleyway.

“-except I don’t know exactly how they’re washing machine works yet. Those buttons keep changing- I swear. I thought I set it to wash for 20 minutes. Turns out I just set it to spin at 20x speed. How messed up is that?” Mahina groaned to herself- or the box, it was hard to tell.

Nani gawked, keeping herself hidden from Mahina’s sight. She was reminded of the last time she hid like this for a child’s sake. Oddly enough it had been that action that brought Stitch into their lives.

“But I know the stuff needs an upgrade.” Mahina rambled on. “The alien tech I saw had some good ideas. Maybe a different form of power? I don’t think they use rechargeable batteries on that ship. Some kind of plasma, then...or cold fusion! Oh that’s gonna keep me busy for a month. At least.”

Mahina went on about the science behind cold fusion for a long while after that. To be honest, it was all going over Nani’s head. She knew she’d heard a lot of similar jargon from Jumba. It suddenly made sense why Mahina never wandered far from the giant purple alien.

A lot of things came together in Nani’s head. On that beach, everything had happened so fast she could hardly keep track of it all. Nani did remember clearly that Mahina had given them the help in letting Lilo keep Stitch. Looking back, she could vaguely remember Mahina standing with Jumba and Pleakley. They had...stood guard over her. 

_ “We have a contract. They pretend to be my parents, and I introduce them into Earth culture. They can't leave as they have yet to obligate their half of the bargain.” _

Nani’s brain blue screen as it all came together.

Mahina stood upright, holding her old outfit in her arms while wearing a new blue dress. She smoothed down her hair then went up the other end of the alleyway.

Once she was gone Nani went up to the box. What she found broke her heart.

 

==M&J==

 

Nani had taken pictures, of course. She’d taken Lilo’s camera before hula practice (Lilo had said she wanted some pictures of the older hula dancers, to replace the ones hat had burnt up in the house explosion). 

She showed the photos to the grown-ups that night, as the younger girls and Stitch slept.

“She lives in a  _ box. _ ” Nani stated, in a disbelieving tone.

Bubbles stared at a picture with his usual detachment from emotions. He picked up one that showed off a rumbled blanket, with a stuffed doll to the side. “Her name is Mahina Alana. From what the agency told me, her father was listed as ‘Unknown’.”

“And her mom?” Nani asked, dreading an answer.

Bubbles looked over at Nani. “Last our records show, she took a plane to the states. Hasn’t been seen since.”

Nani let out a half-relieved sigh. She had worried that Mahina’s mother had died. Then again, straight up abandoning her child hadn’t been much better. Hence  _ half _ -relieved.

Jumba stared at a picture. Pleakley over his shoulder did the same. It was inside, showing off Mahina’s written sign of ownership. Jumba recalled all the little remarks Mahina had made over the days, of not having a home. He had paid them no mind at the time. He had just thought it was a human thing.

Looking at this picture, he questioned a lot more things.

“She...said you were going to take her away.” Jumba recalled. He looked up at Bubbles. “Why?”

“If a child is shown to not be living in proper conditions, social services are called in to take the child away. Originally, I was here for just Lilo. When I saw Mahina, she was carrying a  _ lot _ of food. Not a lot for a family, but enough for a little kid to live off for a week. She claimed it was because her parents were too busy to do it themselves.” Bubbles looked to Nani. “She was lying. Even I didn’t know she was living in a box.”

“So...living in box is not good for the girl?” Jumba asked, clarifying.

“It’s not good.” Bubbles answered. “When all of this is officially settled, I’ll still need to take Mahina with me. She needs a real home- not a box.”

“But we have that contract! With bucks!” Pleakley argued. “Mahina said that-”

Bubbles gave Pleakley a look, lowering his sunglasses to get the message across. Pleakley shut up. “She lied about that too. Even if it was true, usually contracts aren’t made with the kid doing the paying. The system is around so that kids  _ don’t _ have to pay for  _ strangers  _ to watch them.”

“She knew we were aliens.” Jumba added after a pause. “Said...knew from start.”

“She’s a smart kid.” Nani could still recall a lot of the scientific jargon in that alley.

“Well...we weren’t that good at it.” Pleakley weakly defended. “She tried helping. A lot.” He could still remember when Mahina had wrapped him in bandages after the Mosquito incident. 

Pleakley turned to Jumba. The purple alien had a thoughtful look on his face. Jumba had it focused on Bubbles.

“Where will you take her?” Jumba inquired.

“Away.” Bubbles explained plainly. He had an idea in his mind- one he imagined Mahina herself had been working towards since she stood up to the Grand Councilwoman. “Even if we could find her mother, that’s not an option. Closest living relative that we could locate was a grandmother in Pennsylvania.”

“That’s so far away.” Nani noted. Lilo had befriended the other girl. For Mahina was an oddball just like Lilo, though an oddness of a different brand. Mahina could still understand Lilo’s quirks, from the few conversations Nani had heard.

Bubbles nodded. “We considered a foster home, only after observing her for a time I suggested it was better to place her with an actual relative.” He side eyed Jumba again. “Unless there are any other ideas?”

 

==M&J==

 

They were having lunch, a mere two days later, when everything went down.

“You don’t like hula?!” Lilo gawked. “How?!”

Mahina shrugged, taking another bite from her sandwich. “Just not a fan of dancing. It never...felt cool.”

“But- but I saw you dancing!” Lilo objected. “You practiced with me and it was good!”

“It was just something to do.” Mahina excused. “Pass the time you know?”

Stitch made a noise of agreement. But he’d actually liked the dance class, so he couldn’t agree with Mahina on disliking it. He explained that to them.

Mahina- who had gained a basic understanding of the language over the week- scoffed. “Traitor.”

Lilo was internally beaming at having Stitch take her side. She’d also gained basic knowledge of the language, grateful for it. “How can anyone  _ not _ like hula?”

Mahina wanted to explain it carefully. Back in her home world, her mom had been a ballet teacher. Mahina’s ballet teacher. She hadn’t liked any of it. Her mom was always tougher on her over the other kids. Even when Mahina eventually moved on from ballet, it was to a pep squad that her mother led.

She had lost interest in any sort of dance activity.

Hand-to-hand combat was much more her fancy.

“I just don’t.” Mahina replied. “It’s fun though. Just not for all the time.”

Lilo made a noise of disgust. Mahina laughed at the look on Lilo’s face. Stitch gave Lilo a reassuring pat on the back.

Mahina went to take another bite, only to feel someone approach. She turned back in time to see Jumba walking up to the table. She gave him a wide smile, not even needing to fake it. “Hey Jumba!”

The alien gave a shaky sincere grin. As touched as Mahina was by the attempt, she knew that something was off. “Mahina.” He greeted.

Now Mahina was definitely concerned. Dropping her smile for a more serious expression, she gave Jumba a look of disapproval. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing!” Jumba replied. His expression tight with the lie he was holding back.

“You never call me by my name. What’s wrong?” Mahina pressed.

Jumba flinched. Dang, she was smart. Even for a six year old. “Nothing! Just- whatever. Come with me!” He insisted, marching back the way he came.

Mahina watched him do that with curiosity. Never let it be said that she made smart decisions when curious. She turned back to Lilo and Stitch.

“It’s okay, Mahina.” Lilo hopped down from the table. “I need to restart my collection!”

“You do that.” Mahina nodded. “Just remember Nani has your camera.”

“ _ That’s _ where it went?!” Lilo began storming off in the direction of Nani. “Come on Stitch!”

“Eh!” Stitch raced off with her.

Mahina followed Jumba.

They went inside the house. They had rebuilt the structure portions of the home, steadily adding the actual wall parts of the wall. Mahina was impressed. Alien technology  _ rocked _ .

Jumba walked her further into the house. They were going down a hallway. She knew that down that hallway would be Jumba and Pleakley’s room, meanwhile that tunnel would lead up to Lilo and Stitch’s room. Mahina could remember that down the other way was the laundry room beside Nani’s room. 

But Jubma walked past Nani’s room. Mahina was confused for a moment. While she knew that she knew a lot about the interior of their house, she hadn’t seen all of it. There must be parts to the house she’d not seen. Maybe Jumba was leading her to a garage? Or...maybe it was an office? Maybe he was just taking her to the backyard, but didn’t want to walk outside in the heat?

Her questions were answered when Jumba stopped in front of a door. The purple alien threw his arm out to it, stepping aside to give Mahina space.

Mahina glanced between the door and Jumba. She tilted her head at him. “What-”

“Go inside.” Jumba instructed.

Mahina hesitated. “What’s inside?”

“Go and find out.” Jumba insisted.

“Why not just tell me?”

“Is surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises.” Mahina told him. She took a small step back away from the door. 

Jumba huffed. “Humans idea.” He grabbed Mahina by the shoulder, using his other arm to push the door open.

Mahina yelped as she was thrown inside. 

When she gained back her balance she found herself sitting inside a...bedroom. Not a big one, just modest. It had the makings of a window seat across from the door, a desk to her right, and a simple twin bed to her left. She stared at the room in shock, and slow dawning understanding.

Jumba walked into the room. “There is note on desk.”

Numbly, Mahina walked over to it. She had a feeling she knew what was there already. She had seen a lot of familiar items stashed on the desk.  _ Her _ items. From _ the Box. _

There was a document left there that Mahina didn’t recognize. Well that’s a lie. She had seen documents like that before, whether in her work at the FBI or as a lawyer. You eventually see an adoption certificate.

“Ad...adop...adoption?” Mahina stuttered. She picked up the certificate, seeing her own name listed alongside Jumba’s. “This is a serious thing.” Mahina warned him. “Bigger than the- the contract.”

“There was no contract.” Jumba revealed to her. Mahina gave a sheepish smile at that. “You were bluffing.”

“Well...it worked, didn’t it?” Mahina replied. She went back to staring at the document. She saw it was approved by the state of Hawaii, that it had been completed this morning, that her full name was  _ Mahina Alana _ .

Or at least it had been, prior to the adoption.

Now it was _ Mahina Alana Jookiba. _

Mahina refused to feel Emotion.

She refused.

She  _ refused. _

“Bubbles?” Mahina guessed.

“Nani.” Jumba corrected.

Mahina gave a silent nod. She put the document back down on the table, with a reverence she’d only shown to her tech. Mahina turned back to Jumba. “Guess you needed me to pick the colors for the wall?”

Jumba scoffed. He had it pressed to him that this was all a big deal. That he had to be careful for whatever reaction Mahina gave, that he had to stay calm while he told it all to Mahina. Clearly, the human child was capable of understanding it.

Or- she hadn’t wanted to deal with the complicated emotions that were being stirred up by the whole thing.

So he scoffed.

Cause he didn’t want to deal with them either.

“Yes. Nani says you would want girly colors-” Jumba began.

“I want them blue. But a light blue like the sky. With stars on the ceiling. You don’t need to put them up. Just give them to me, I know what stars I want up there.” Mahina corrected. “Also the bed is nice, but I’d like a hammock.”

“Hammock?” Jumba questioned.

“Nani will understand what I mean. I can make it myself. Just- take out the bed.” Mahina explained. She wanted to get this all out before the shock got to her. “And- and I want- I want it- pillows. Lots of pillows for that seat- no carpet, it feels weird-”

“‘Ey! ‘Ey Mahina!” Jumba went up to her side, holding her shoulder. He gave her a light shake to get her out of the spiral she’d seemed to trap herself. “Stop it!”

“Why?” Mahina asked. She began wringing her hands together, squeezing the palms until her fingers started going white. “Why me? Why here? I don’t understand. I don’t understand this. It- it doesn’t make sense.”

Jumba inwardly sighed. Dang it- those dreaded Emotions had caught up to her. “You are smart. Smarter than other humans on Earth.” He pointed to the side of the desk, where some of Mahina’s bigger inventions had been placed. Including the computer she’d stolen from the trash. “Pleakley said you should go with other humans- like with Stitch. Bubbles said it would be better if it me- and I say yes. He put it together. Didn’t ask questions, not necessary.”

“ _ Why _ .” Mahina pressed. “I- I was okay. In the box. It was good. I had what I needed.”

“Box was breaking.” Jumba pointed out to her with a laugh of disbelief. “Would last week- maybe two. Surprise it lasted long as it did.”

Mahina sniffled. She fell to her knees, the torrent of Emotions hitting her hard in all the places that it hurt the most. She became to hyperventilate.

“Oh-” Jumba cursed in his alien tongue. He knelt down by the girl, giving her careful pats on the head. “There. Now stop it. We don’t need them.”

Mahina’s cries with tied in with chuckles now. “We don’t?” She laughed, choking on a sob.

“No. There is work.” Jumba motioned to the room.

This seemed to be the right thing to say. Mahina took in a few gasping breaths, wiping at her cheeks. “Work. We got work to do.”

“Yes.” Jumba nodded. He got back to his feet, walking towards the door. “Come. I forgot what you said you wanted for room.”

Mahina took in one last shaking breath. She pushed herself to her knees. Her legs shook lightly, the way a baby deer’s legs did after birth. She stumbled towards Jumba. He held out his arm in case she fell. “I can help with the work.”

“Sure you can, little girl.” Jumba let her believe that. He could understand that- needing to work with your hands on something to keep focused. He had been much the same when he was young. Help make him into evil scientist he was today. “Sure you can.”

“Thanks P-Pops.” Mahina swallowed, trying to keep the shaky tone out from her voice.

So daughter and father left the room. Both of them on shaking ground for the future ahead. Neither were sure if they’d make it, if this was the right way to go. But both of them were too stubborn to let a simple thing as fear keep them from giving it a try.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is...somehow I wrote this. Somehow I finished this story. Did it make you feel things? Leave a comment about it. Seriously, they are the best.
> 
> Thanks to everyone that’s been reading along, whether the entire time or just started now! It’s meant a lot that you guys have stuck around. See you next time in...Stitch Has a Glitch (Coming Oct 4th)

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! I hinted at this story in my Doctor Who series. Now it’s finally being done!


End file.
